If you are having trouble getting started in your shamanic journey work because your mind wanders, or you have thoughts that you can't do the work - here is something to try:
Set up a basket, jar or container in your room, and you put all your reservations and disbelief into it before you begin journeying. You can get it back later when you are done, or you can ask the spirits to transfigure them. Sometimes our I can'ts come from a belief system that is in conflict with the work. The person might need to think it all through and find a common ground, but the belief system is really so subliminal that it is hard to put a finger on it. So this basket method can help, because you may really WANT to take the things back and work with them later. I have met many beginning students who feel that their catholic upbringing sets them at odds with shamanic practice, and they struggle to get started because of these inner conflicts. But there is a Sister in Flagstaff who teaches shamanism from a catholic perspective, and it is fabulous work. So maybe we just need to set aside our I can'ts and belief systems, and just concentrate on phenomena, and let the thinking part come later.